Honduras leaves its mark on me
Trip Start
Jan 20, 2007
1
11
13
Trip End
Ongoing
Lago yojoa, Honduras
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
So, imagine a place where cars drive regardless of their mechanical state, with people wearing seatbelts as they choose, and talking on mobiles whenever they want. Imagine a place where donkeys roam the streets and horse drawn carriages are just simply part of the traffic, surrounded by impressive mountains and beautiful palm trees. where you wake to the crows of roosters and the persistent honking of horns on the nearby roads. The same place, where people live in little more than clay housing, but have internet and mobile phone a lot of the time. here, friendliness and poverty seem to go hand in hand, and people are grateful for any little bit of help you can give. It is possible to survive on 5dollars a day, probably even less if you tried, the average wage is only about that, and beers are sold for less than a dollar.
Advertising here is in the form of a massive pairs of speakers on the back of a pick up truck driving through the streets blearing promotions in front of people's houses.
There are many diseases no longer seen at home and unimaginable until encountered, and the fact that you wear scrubs and have a stethoscope around your neck automatically seems to equate you to a doctor.
So that makes us all doctors (more or less) in the clinic, some of us probably more the level of brain surgeons, as the clinic is officially run by a canadian expad who may have had some qualification as an EMT at one stage, and is now referred to by some as Dr. Google, as he seems to rely on the internet for most of his diagnoses. mmmh, yes, makes you wonder, but then, the clinic has been opened by a Doctor of theology as we only recently found out. imagine our surprise. But you cant really get upset about it, as everyone means well and does what they think they can in order to help. the resultant chaos at times can be overwhelming, and i cant help but think how well a similar project could be run if resources were more concentrated and it was simply accepted, that not all things can be completed simultaneously, but those that we are doing, should be done well! I guess i am getting wise in my old age! haha
In any case, it doesnt change anything, as we too do what we can with what we have available and the thanks you get at times from the patients makes it all worth while.
It was nice to get away last weekend and see other parts of the country, explore the majestic waterfall near lago yojoa and laugh my heart out, while we attempted to paddle a little fragile row boat across the lake, only to brake the ores and have to paddle back as if being in a kanu.
After a busy day in the clinic yesterday, i got to teach english to a class of locals, that gather here every week for 3 nights, and was later invited to play in a local soccer match. what a blast, and so impressive too, how the ball seems to be glued to the feet of the guys here. Guess i cant have done too bad though, got asked to play again in a couple of days, and cant wait. lets only hope i dont come down with symptoms of TB after spending the day interviewing patients in the local prison who have just newly contracted the disease. ;-)
